Olivia Bee

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Olivia Bee
Born (1994-04-05) April 5, 1994 (age 28)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
OccupationPhotographer

Olivia Bolles (born April 5, 1994), [1] better known as Olivia Bee, is an American photographer. [2] Bee's book Kids in Love was published by Aperture in 2016. [3]

Contents

Personal life

Bee is the daughter of a hairdresser mother and a high-tech worker. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she attended Da Vinci Arts Middle School. [4] [5] She moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was 18 years old. [6]

Photography

Bee's interest in photography began at the age of 11 when she first took a photography class. [6] In 2013 she summarized her early work as "like, stuffed animals and a picture of my mom in the kitchen." [4] Afterwards, Bee began taking photos independently and uploading them to the image hosting website Flickr, where the footwear company Converse saw her work and asked her to photograph for their company. [6] Her work was used in an advertising campaign for Converse when she was 14. [7] Her work was also used in campaigns for Adidas, Fiat, Hermès, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike and Subaru, and published by The New York Times and Le Monde . [4] [6] [8] Bee decided to pursue photography as a full-time career after unsuccessfully applying to study at Cooper Union in New York City. [4]

Kurt Soller of New York described her work as "dreamy, seventies-inspired photographs of maybe-wasted, increasingly famous young people who just want to have fun, injected with ombré washes of color (often pink)", [4] while Kathy Sweeney of The Guardian observed that "Bee finds a dreamlike, innocent colour in her friends' gently dissolute experimentation." [6] In an interview with Paper Magazine , Bee characterized her work as "real, obsessive emotions put in a pop context." [9] The subjects in her photographs are often placed in the center of the frame. [4]

In 2011 she cited Ryan McGinley, Annie Leibovitz and Nan Goldin as influences, [10] and attributed her inspiration to her younger brother, mother and father's musical and artistic talents. [8]

Bee's book Kids in Love was published by Aperture in 2016. [3] [11] The book is divided into two sections, one featuring predominantly staged shots and the other focusing on "slice of life" material. [3]

Other work

In 2018 Bee featured in the short film A Kid From Somewhere: Olivia Bee, directed by Paul Johnston and Adam Beck. The film depicts Bee's photographic process, focusing in part on a project completed in honour of her sister, who died before she was born. [12] In 2021 she directed the music video for Olivia Rodrigo's song "Traitor". [13] In 2022 she directed the music video for Ingrid Andress's "Feel Like This". [14]

Publications

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References

  1. ↑ Bee, Olivia (April 5, 2011). "seventeen". Olivia Bee. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ Kellner, Amy (November 23, 2011). "Our Teenage Photographer of Teenage Lust". The New York Times Magazine . Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Eckhardt, Stephanie (April 7, 2016). "With Kids in Love, Olivia Bee Is No Longer So Young". W . Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Soller, Kurt (February 9, 2013). "The Very Rapid Rise of the Very Precocious Photographer Olivia Bee". New York . Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  5. ↑ Jones, Syndney; Hauth, Sophie (November 28, 2016). "Capturing the Light". Grant Magazine . Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Sweeney, Kathy (February 23, 2013). "Olivia Bee: 'People Don't take me seriously – until they see me work'". The Guardian . Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ House, Kelly (May 29, 2012). "Portland's Olivia Bolles, 18, attracts attention in professional photography world". The Oregonian . Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Lanz, Desiree (July 23, 2011). "Young Photographer Succeeds At Snapping Away". Neon Tommy . Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ Sidell, Lainey (April 1, 2016). "Photographer Olivia Bee on Shooting "Kids in Love"". Paper Magazine . Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  10. ↑ Little, Myles (September 9, 2011). "Smells Like Teen Spirit: Tavi Gevinson Interviews Olivia Bee". Time . Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  11. ↑ Joiner, James (April 19, 2016). "How Olivia Bee spent her teenage years capturing the ephemeral spirit of youth". Huck . Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  12. ↑ Farley, Rebecca (April 23, 2018). "Olivia Bee, Photography Prodigy, Is Just A Kid From 'Somewhere'". Refinery29 . Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  13. ↑ Doria, Matt (October 22, 2021). "Olivia Rodrigo mourns a backstabbing ex in new music video for 'Traitor'". NME . Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Ingrid Andress shares the official music video for 'Feel Like This'". WMIX 94. September 12, 2022.
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